Under the auspices of the 2016 Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU, the fourth edition of European Space Solutions (ESSC) is coming to The Hague. The major 5-day conference will bring together business and the public sector with users and developers of space-based solutions.
Mobility
NLR’s contribution to the NL Space exhibition at ESSC is on the mobility theme , focussing on using space assets for critical applications, in particular GNSS. You can find us at stand 11.
Global Satellite Navigation Systems (GNSS) are used in many application areas and are all (nearly) operational: GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo and EGNOS. NLR is a GNSS expertise centre with clear understanding of the opportunities and limitations of the GNSS systems and their performance. Being involved in the development of both Galileo and EGNOS, and running our own robustness test and performance monitoring facilities, NLR is well positioned to support both government and industry in the validation and certification of GNSS solutions for dedicated applications.
NLR takes on many challenges: defining low cost and secure solutions; preserving integrity and safety requirements; use of GNSS positions as legal evidence; augmentation of GNSS systems to reach high precision positioning; etc. With an extensive aeronautical track record, NLR focuses on mission critical and safety-of-life applications.
Small Innovative Launcher for Europe (SMILE)
Fourteen European companies and institutes are joining forces in a European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 project called “SMall Innovative Launcher for Europe” (SMILE). The project aims at designing a launcher for satellites up to 50 kg and a European-based launch facility at Andøya, as well as demonstrating critical technologies on propulsion, avionics, and manufacturing of cost-effective solutions.
The launcher will provide a proper launch capability for a combination of several smaller satellites as well as a single micro-satellite, thus targeting not only the market for education and in-orbit demonstration, but also allowing commercial, scientific, and governmental missions.
The SMILE concept targets a European, ITAR-free, cost effective, commercially exploitable launch service. The project chooses the well-proven path of a vertical orbital launcher for small satellites, whilst developing technology that can also be applied to any of the above-mentioned initiatives. Based on market conditions, a target price is set to be less than €50,000 per kg from the first launch, and decreasing as launch volumes rise.
NLR can also be found at the SMILE stand 3 at ESSC. NLR is prime of the SMILE project.
